FORT ERIE, Ont. – Tracy Bonn Cercone wanted a puppy. More than that, she wanted a basset hound.
Even more than that, she wanted one with special needs. So she Googled and found a man in Ontario who was giving away such a pup, though only to the right home. Tracy wasn’t the only one interested, and later she wondered why the man had chosen her.
“I asked him, and he said, ‘Because you were the only one who didn’t ask to see a picture.’ ” Tracy and her twin, Lisa, drove north of Toronto, near Lake Simcoe, in January to pick up the pup who would come to be called Buttercup. She was born with a shortened right front leg that bends toward her body so that she has to get around on three legs, which she does quite nicely.
Sure, sometimes she stumbles and scrapes her head, but that only serves to draw people in. “Her struggle is so relatable,” Tracy says. “Her innocent, enthusiastic persistence speaks only to possibility, not shortcomings.
And that, like Butter herself, is beautiful and perfect.” Tracy Bonn Cercone and Buttercup (Photo by Lisa Bonn) Tracy named her Buttercup because that is what their father called Lisa when they were growing up. His pet name for Tracy was Daisy – and that’s what Lisa named her new red fox Lab in 2022.
Yes, they named their dogs for each other. “Tracy’s not only my twin,” Lisa says. “She’s my best friend.
” Their dogs, too, are best friends: Buttercup, Daisy and Dill, Lisa’s 14-year-old German shepherd-Lab mix, w.